Football
Linebacker Aaron Williams is the latest to suffer a season-ending injury — a broken arm. He joins Matt Rodgers and Deryn Bowser as recent additions to the inactive list.
Williams played about 50 snaps after breaking his arm in multiple places, coach J.D. Brookhart said in his weekly press conference.
Manley Waller is questionable for Saturday's game against Syracuse with a sprained ankle.
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
E. All of the above.
Some player got on the Zips radio show tonight and said, "It's just like coach tells us, we're a good team that nobody's heard of."
An odd thing to say.
I am not going to blame injuries for our failures. Hell, the fact that Williams played 50 snaps after initially breaking it speaks wonders to me. It means that this team is still fighting as much as they can for a victory. If the players are pouring their hearts out on the field and we are still losing games, the only explanation could be the coaching. I believe we can all agree we have the level of talent that should be able to win games like this past weekend's, but the coaching staff has been the most disappointing part of our team. Rugby kicks? The 3-3-5?! All examples of where the coaching staff is letting us down.
JD has got to go. He's doing nothing to help this program. He has the talent, but where are the victories?!
@Cole22
That is an odd statement to hear. Gee… I could only guess why we are a team that nobody has heard of? Perhaps its because we aren't winning games? Nobody in their right mind would call the Zips a good team if the best they have done this season was beat up on a I-AA cupcake.
Not that the season is by any stretch a success, but Morgan State is not a bad team (for FCS). They're actually just on the verge of making the FCS Coaches poll. They're 5-1, with the only loss being the drubbing by the Zips. I struggle to find any other reasons for this teams inability to win so far in the conference other than coaching. The 3-3-5 is an awful gimmick defense that literally leaves us defenseless. Anyone else notice the IDENTICAL scoring plays on consecutive drives where our 3 DLs couldn't get a pass rush so we sent everyone…only to give up a dink touchdown over the top? Don't tell me you can't recruit 5-10 MAC level or above DLs with the best facilities in the league. Don't tell me "Matt Rodgers was better than Patrick Nicely" just because Matt had been with the program better. It's a foregone conclusion, barring a 6 game (miracle) winning streak that JD is gone, but dang do I wish it was sooner than the end of the season. I was behind him last year, and even this year, but the man has done more damage to the program in one year than could even be imagined. This WAS to be a key year to legitimize Akron football, instead JD coached us into a laughing stock…not just of 1A, but of the lowly MAC.
I tried to vote in the poll, but there is not one reason. I really believe with a seasoned QB like we had going into the season, we would have won the last two games, but Nicely is going to be the future of this team for a while. The whole thing makes me angry with #11 for what he did to this team.
For other reasons, defense has been good (put in awful position in a few games), but have trouble getting a pass rush like others said above, and depth seems weak at cornerback, we cannot overcome any of those losses.
Last, special teams is a disaster, punts are terrible, and the offense has to feel pressure knowing the kickers are likely to miss easy field goals. This is JD's fault, he cant find someone to kick the ball, and rotating and benching these guys is not helping them. I am happy with the way the team has responded the last two weeks after all of the problems before that, those players have some heart, and hopefully we get some results before the end of the year.
At least we have an awesome soccer team and high hopes for mens b-ball this year. Get JD out of there and watch Akron Football take off. Due to the facilities and the fan support that can be there if a winner is on the field, recruits will come, and the program will be on its way. Now, who the heck do the Zips hire for the job?????
Bye-bye Brookfart
If you ever want proof that a large cross section of the American public is stupid, look no further than the 21% who've voted that Zips fans have "unreasonable expectations."
Here we sit at 1-5. We have Z-E-R-O Division 1 wins…0 conference wins…and it is October 20th.
So it is unreasonable to expect 0ne…maybe two wins by late October…by JD Brookhart's 6th season at the helm? Must be.
People are stupid.
We play in the MAC, and on top of that the MAC east. Unreasonable expectations!?!? You guys (10 of you) are fricking NUTS. If we can't win in the MAC east this year….WHAT, ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS !??! You expect to lose? Let's see what the AD thinks on November 28th. I am 100 percent sure where he will put the blame. Unreasonable expectations, don't make me laugh. To the other 9 people that voted for player performance, who do you think is in charge of getting those players to perform?
Funny that "S. Rutigliano" leaves a comment….because Sam is the guy I thought Akron should've hired after Gerry Faust. He's a NE Ohio guy, had success at the pro level, coached at Liberty College for years, is well-liked… He would've been ideal.
It just goes to show you how a poor coaching selection can set a program back not just for years, but for decades. Hey, Gerry was a wonderful person, but the man he replaced was a superb "coach." Owens was not a D-1 coach, p-e-r-i-o-d. And what have we seen from Brookhart? The same.
Taken in total, where has this football program gone since 1986 when Dennison was forced out by Muse and Adams, two knuckleheads if ever there was one. Yes, we're D-1, we're in the MAC, we have a fieldhouse and new stadium. Great steps in infrastructure, to be sure. But the product on the field must reflect the advancements, as well. This next coaching hire (which I'm advocating for Terry Bowden, currently at Univ. of North Alabama) has got to be a homerun in every sense.
Don't underestimate the power (at the gate) of a big name coach. You see what effect Paterno, Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Glen Mason, etc. have had on attendance. We cannot afford to go with a no-name shmuck who no one cares about.
Yeah, it is REAL easy to hire a "big name coach" at Akron. Everybody wants that job. We should hire Gruden. (insert rolling eye emoticon here) Can we at least be real?
If tiny Northern Alabama (not even a D-1 school) can get Bowden, why wouldn't Akron be attractive to him? He coached here under Faust. And I tend to believe Akron's facilities are much nicer than Northern Alabama's.
This program is a "sleeping giant." All the pieces are in place for success, now it just needs a coaching staff to take it over the top. Don't think Proenza and Worticll aren't thinking that, too. We just can't afford a Lee Owens or J.D. Brookhart hire again. It's gotta be someone who has some name recognition and will excite the fringe fanbase and student body. Terry Bowden is the guy.
The next UA coaching hire cannot be a "miss." And it cannot be a re-tread.
Look at Notre Dame. They have all the money in the free world…and they've sucked for over a decade. Davies…Willingham…Weis…three hires that set Notre Dame football back to the MAC-level.
Either hire the best 1-AA coach available, or give Larry Kehres $500,000/year.
I'd hardly call these eyepopping career numbers "re-tread." Bowden is also only 52. Seems just about what Akron could use:
(copied and pasted from Terry Bowden's wikipedia page:)
Coaching record
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl Coaches# AP°
Salem College (WVIA Conference) (1983–1985)
1983 Salem 3-7
1984 Salem 8-3
1985 Salem 8-3
Salem: 19-13-0
Samford Bulldogs () (1987–1992)
1987 Samford 9-1
1988 Samford 5-6
1989 Samford 4-7
1990 Samford 6-4-1
1991 Samford 12-2
1992 Samford 9-3
Samford: 45-23-1
Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1993–1998)
1993 Auburn 11-0 8-0 1 – West* Ineligible* 4
1994 Auburn 9-1-1 6-1-1 2 – West* Ineligible* 9
1995 Auburn 8-4 5-3 2 – West L 14-43 Outback Bowl 21 22
1996 Auburn 8-4 4-4 3 – West W 32-29 Independence Bowl 25 24
1997 Auburn 10-3 6-2 1 – West (t) W 21-17 Peach Bowl 11 11
1998 Auburn 1-5^ 1-4^ 6 – West
Auburn: 47-17-1 30-14-1
North Alabama (Gulf South Conference) (2009–present)
2009 North Alabama 8-0 5-0
Total: 119-53-2
Larry Kehres isn't going anywhere. At his age and with his family commitments, why would he want the hassle of Division 1 football? He'd sooner retire than come to Akron, at any price. That's been well-established.
And lest we believe that lower-level success (D-3, for instance) instantly translates to D-1 success, I present: G. Faust. A high school legend, mediocre at Notre Dame, abysmal at UA.
I've seen a lot of cries for a new coaching regime, but very few specific suggestions, other than Bowden and Kehres. Are these these guys legit candidates, or do Zip fans have other choices in mind? I'd like to see some local input, instead of the new A.D. just hiring another national search-firm.
HMMMM! Injuries have been devastating to these poor guys! They will run off 5 out of 6!!
Go ZIPS! Don't listen to the downers and losers around here…..I believe in you!!!
The injuries are bad but who in the MAC is not banged up?
Expectations from most zip fans were in line and if they were, say, 3-3 right now I don't think folks would be reaching for the pitchforks just yet..
That leaves Player Performance and Coaching but players not performing *is* a coaching problem.
JD may not be a bad coach but for Akron, right now, he is not the guy.
–
This week I tried to objectively measure the rank of MAC coaches and JD cam in 9th in the conference (ahead of Martin, Haywood, Parish, and English)…
http://bull-run.blogspot.com/2009/10/us-against-them-buffalo-at-western.html
–
Doh, Wrong URL..
http://bull-run.blogspot.com/2009/10/mac-coaching-decathalon.html
Sorry all..
tool – i'm with you on Kehres. i thought he should have been our last hire but we didn't have the facilities at that time and he has a pretty good gig at Mt. Union.
he is cut from the same cloth as Dennison and Tressel. quality guys, quality programs and winning programs at any level.
adding a big name might add some sizzle to the bacon but winning football is the main ingredient.
Remember the motor city bowl and all the support we gave the ZIPS with a no name coach at the time
If we're talking coaching replacements now, we have to decide on what type of coach we need to hire. Will he be a failed or past-his-prime "name" coach? A coordinator? A former NFL coach? Or will it be a successful lower-division coach?
I choose the latter. There is one guy for the job, one guy with the track record of already being a head coach (coordinators don't have the right type of experience to run an entire team right away), one guy who is a proven winner (no re-hashed losers at a higher level; losers will always lose). His name is Chuck Martin, the head coach at D-II Grand Valley State. He is a winner. He has a record of 68-6 with two national championships in just 5 and 1/2 years.
http://www.gvsulakers.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/martin_chuck00.html
That's his profile.
He plays at Ashland on Saturday, so if you want a first-hand look at what a winner looks like against a (former) Akron coach, this is the perfect opportunity.
@ zinger: "Remember the motor city bowl and all the support we gave the ZIPS with a no name coach at the time"
You mean, selling 10,000 tickets to our first-ever D-1 bowl game two hours away? Yeah, that's what ya call "traveling with the team." Please note the sarcasm.
P.S. I'd definitely give this Chuck Martin guy an interview. At the D-2 level, those are some impressive numbers. And if Terry Bowden is looking to make the leap back from D-2 to D-1, he's surely worth bringing onto campus for a look-see.
The Zips absolutely CANNOT afford to screw up this next hire.
Four losing seasons in a row. Injuries were not responsible for all that. Please lets not start the argument that this staff deserves a shot at a 5th losing season in a row. There are lots of successful I-AA and D-II coaches who will consider this program. It ain't our job to find them. Thats why the new AD is getting paid 6 figures. Time to earn his money. The guy at GVS HOPEFULLY is an option. There are good head coaches in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. If Kehres hasn't moved after all these years he is not gong to now.
Lee, there've been several athletic directors paid six-figures to find Akron a coach. From Adams to Bobinski to Thomas to Rhoades and now T.W.
And who have they found? Faust, Owens, Brookhart.
I'd say they need all the help they can get, no matter their overblown salary.
Justin — Good One!
Did you go to the Motor City Bowl?
Did you go to the home opener this year?
if so then you know the college D1 football experience WE ALL ARE LOOKING FOR !
I just want a FOOTBALL COACH (young or old) who can help make saturdays SPECIAL at The University of Akron
WIN and THEY WILL COME!
GO ZIPS!
Well, yeah, as a matter of fact, Zinger, I most certainly WAS at the Motor City Bowl and at the InfoCision home opener. I don't get your point? Seemed like you were somehow extolling the great support we had in Detroit (what was it, 10G?). For a game that close, that's sad.
I, too, want Special Saturdays, and prefer a D-1 experienced coach, such as Bowden. But the Martin suggestion is one which should also be followed up on. Tressel made the successful leap from YSU to OSU and 3 national title games. Seems like Martin is on the same trajectory. But he's just ONE candidate.
For all of you who would like to get a "big name" coach, it aint going to happen! You are Akron for chrissakes. This IS the MAC. A stepping stone for bigger schools. A training ground. A pit stop to the big time. Kehres is not coming. Doubt Bowden will come. Let`s see………Mr. Huggins ring a bell? Gary Pinkel? Glen Mason? Bo Schembechler? Woody Hayes? Don James? Brian Kelly? Nick Saban? Akron……ya`ll need to get a grip! A young up and coming coach will do just fine. You never know…..Akron can win out and Brookhart will be given an extension.
Tend to disagree, Fred. There are only so many Division 1 head coaching jobs, and more than enough "name" coaches to go around. Akron suddenly isn't just "any old" D-1 program. We have the finest facilities around and a Prez who wants to make it all work for the U. Who would have thought Solich would go from Nebraska to Ohio U?
Don't undervalue this job opening. When you have a guy like Bowden toiling at a D-2 school now, why *wouldn't* he be interested in interviewing for this job, esp. if he's already coached here for a year?
Haven't we seen enough of the supposed "up-and-coming" coaches? And I'm not dissing the Martin candidacy at all. I'm just saying to explore all options and do something that will truly "click" with fans area-wide. Another Brookhart-type hiring does absolutely NOTHING to energize or assist in building the fanbase.
I'm not in any way flaming here (I'm an OU fan), so please bear with me.
OU sort of got lucky with Solich. He was so shocked by his firing at Nebraska that he decided to sit out a year. He also had another wild card situation that affected his choices: he was well into his 60s. A lot of major football schools aren't going to hire a guy who might only want to work another four or five years and might face health issues. OU ended up getting a guy who might be 60 but still has a lot of passion. He's now 66 or 67 and will probably coach 4-5 more years. That's ideal for OU, as he hopefully will have built a very strong foundation for a younger guy. It "appears" that foundation is starting to pay dividends, but most OU fans would tell you that they expected next year to be the big pay-off, with Boo Jackson as a Senior.
I liken Akron's situation to OU's following the departure of Jim Grobe as head coach. Everybody talked about how great the recruiting classes had been, but when you looked at the players who really panned out, it was middle-of-the-road talent at best. Solich has taken a different approach by going after solid kids that were more likely to make it to campus and stay in the program.
Akron has garnered some headlines under Brookhart for a few "great" recruiting classes, but when you look at the number of those kids who actually were up to the college experience, not that many remain. So I would vote that there were unrealistic expectations given the attrition rate the program has experienced among its recruiting classes.
Now that the stadium is here, that certainly can change, but I don't think Brookhart can change his philosophy enough to keep the job. I would suggest a solid recruiter/assistant coach who knows the MAC — someone like Jim Grobe's top assistant at Wake Forest (was a recruiter at OU and Ball State in the early 90s) or a top-level assistant at a Big 10 school. As for the guy at Grand Valley State, that level is a completely different culture where they can take a lot of borderline kids. True, Brian Kelly has panned out at Cincinnati, but I have strong suspicions that programs don't turn around that quickly without some shady decisions that will eventually surface.
Tony
RowdyZ
Zips D is a 3-4, has been all year. Watch a game closely; if you still can't tell ask J.D. at next radio show. They left the 3-3-5 behind last year.